The Riot at Stockport: St. Peter’s Schools, and Alderman Graham’s House

St. Peter’s Schools, and Alderman Graham’s House. Source: The Illustrated London News (1852) [Click on image to enlarge it.]

Section of article accompanying the illustration above

Mr. Cheetham, who was an eye-witness of the riot for more then an boor, at thus describes the scene at St. Peter's schools:— “As is the case in all street disturbances the first breach of the peece wee committed by boys, who threw stones at some ten or twelve young men who were passing along the bottom of Lord-street into which Rock-row runs at the upper end, as it does to Carr-green
at the lower. They were chased by the young men, and ran to the end of the turn into the row, on attaining which they gave a signal that brought up quickly of men, who were said to hare been in ambush about the middle of the
row, and in their turn the young men fled. Not aetisfled with having made their antagonists run, the Irish proceeded to attack the house of Alderman Graham, a well-known Protestant, which stands in Lord-street, directly opposite the end of the row; they next attacked the Protestant church of St. Peter, and its schools, which stood opposite to Aldermen Graham’s. All this time there was e continued yelling end screaming, and about seven o’clock, the blood of the Irish being tolerably warmed, they had armed themselves with the weapons they coaid lay bold upon readiest — pokers, soldering irons, sticks, pieces of chairs, sickles, scythes, end other barbarous instruments, and were reedy for conflict with any power that might present themselves. The scythes and sickles seem to corroborate the account given by some of the men subsequently apprehended, that they had only just come to England, that being so, they were over here for the harvest, and these were their implements of labour.

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References

The Riot at Stockport” The Illustrated London News 21 (10 July 1852): 2922-30. Hathi Trust Digital Library version of a copy in the University of Michigan Library. Web. 17 December 2015. The text above was created from the web version with ABBYY FineReader. — George P. Landow